Player Interview: Michael Greco

23 December 2007 by Lucy Kavanagh

We took ten minutes with Michael Greco - well known actor turned poker player, who has been big on the UK poker scene this year...

Lucy: So Michael, roughly what percentage of your waking hours have been spent at a poker table this year, and would you like to spend any more time playing poker?

Michael Greco: 30% sounds about right. In the last few weeks I’ve given it a break – but when it’s peaked I’ve been spending 30% of my time on poker. I don’t think I would like to play more because I’d be spending too much time either online (which I don’t really enjoy any more) or at the casino – and it’s become a problem that in phases where your luck isn’t great you can be chasing and it’s not good for you or your temperament. At the moment, there’s been a lot of acting work coming through for me so it’s been quite sporadic. I would like to spend more time at the table if I was on form, it’s all about hitting that purple patch.

Lucy: Would you like to be a professional player then?

Michael Greco: Yeah, I’d like to be a pro. It’s a very expensive profession though - if you aren’t getting the results, unless you’re sponsored it can become quite expensive and also it can be tiresome travelling. I’ve had the most amazing time abroad, going places and meeting people, but it can become quite lonesome if you haven’t got a girlfriend or wife and you’re living in and out of a suitcase in a hotel. I can understand how golfers feel actually, going from one event to the next living in a hotel - but it has been amazing!

Lucy: Good! Do you think winning the WSOP is within your reach in that case?

Michael Greco: Oh definitely, it’s within anybody’s reach, if they’ve got enough skill, a good read on the game and that certain amount of luck which everybody needs. You’re not gonna win a major event, especially the World Series, without being lucky in double figures. You’ve gotta get lucky and suck out on people, and sometimes stick your money in when you’re behind. That’s the way the game is, and I know that.

Lucy: So on that note, this is a pretty standard question and the answer varies a lot from player to player – what is the percentage of luck and the percentage of skill in the game?

Micahael Greco: Well it varies a lot with me too. It’s up and down. When I’m playing well and my cards are holding up I tend to think that the skill outweighs the luck, then when your luck is down and there is nothing you can do about it you think ‘Christ, there’s too much luck in this game’ and then maybe the percentage of luck outweighs the skill. It can vary from tournament to tournament but I think even if I was in a rich veign of form now I would say luck just outweighs the skill – but not by that much.

Lucy: What do you do to bring yourself back up if you are running with bad luck?

Michael Greco: Some people say you should play through it, like a striker who’s not hitting goals. But I tend to disagree with that, I think you should just give it a rest for a while because it can change the way you play if you try to play through it – and you’re expecting to be rivered or you’re expecting ot be outdrawn. So I think for me it was testing me as a person to the hilt, and it was brining out the worst in me. People were saying ‘What a nice guy he is away from the table, but what an arsehole at the table’ and it’s so true. And now I know when I’m gonna give it a rest because I don’t wanna be that type of person.

Lucy: You’ve said to me before that you don’t fear anyone at the table, but do you think that people have feared you and your manner at the table?

Michael Greco: Yeah, people have given me a lot more respect because I’ve won a big tournament and cashed in a few big finals, and I’m high in the European rankings this year but I haven’t played that many top tournaments in the last couple of months. But I’ve done well and I think people take me a lot more seriously now. And I don’t fear anybody, no, because if you fear anybody on that table you might as well give ‘em your chips – it’s all over.

Lucy: So you may not fear anyone, but tell me which player do you respect most and why?

Michael Greco: I respect Roberto Romanello because he’s got charisma, he plays a good game, he loves to talk, he’s passionate about the game and he’s a lovely guy. I’ve spent a lot of time with him and I respect him becase he really is an up and coming player, somebody who one day will win a huge tournament. He’s great for the game.

Lucy: Has it been hard for you to get in a play your game without being seen as an actor or celebrity?

Michael Greco: Most of the time when I go abroad to the states or Europe most people don’t know that my main job is acting. It’s only when I’m abroad and there are other English guys there – they know I’m an actor, but I’ve become good friends with them all. They know me now, they know my game and respect me as a player. In England is it a bit different when you turn up at a strange casino where people don’t know you and see you as Bepe from Eastenders. And fine, that’s great if they think I’m just an actor – I’ll take their money!